NEW YORK, Feb 15, (V7N) – The US Justice Department on Friday moved to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, despite a wave of resignations from federal prosecutors who refused to comply with the decision.

Adams, who pleaded not guilty in September to fraud and bribery charges, has consistently denied allegations that he offered to support President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in exchange for the case being dropped.

The Justice Department's request for dismissal without prejudice means the case could still be revived, casting a long shadow over Adams’s reelection campaign in November.

Prosecutors Resign in Protest

The decision has sparked outrage within the Southern District of New York (SDNY), with multiple prosecutors resigning in protest.

Among them, Assistant US Attorney Hagan Scotten stepped down Friday, calling the move an act of "foolishness or cowardice."

His boss, acting US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, also resigned on Thursday, joining several prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in Washington who quit this week over the decision.

NBC reported that acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove allegedly promised leadership positions to those who agreed to file the dismissal motion, which still requires judicial approval.

Adams: 'I Never Traded My Authority'

Amid mounting pressure to resign, Adams reiterated his innocence and condemned the accusations:

"I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case," Adams said.

Meanwhile, Governor Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, called the allegations “extremely serious” but resisted taking immediate action, saying:

"I cannot, as the governor of this state, have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction."

Trump: ‘Looks Very Political’

Speaking from the White House, President Trump distanced himself from the decision, saying he knew nothing about the case but added:

"It looks very political, especially coming ahead of Adams’s reelection."

Trump also dismissed the resigning prosecutors, claiming they were holdovers from the previous administration and would be “gone soon anyway.”

Fiery Resignation Letter Goes Public

Scotten’s resignation letter, widely circulated online, sharply criticized the Justice Department’s move:

"No system of liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives," he wrote.

"If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me."

Justice Department Under Fire

Trump’s Justice Department has undergone a sweeping shakeup, with numerous high-ranking officials fired, demoted, or reassigned since he took office.

Chad Mizelle, DOJ chief of staff, defended the decision, arguing the department was returning to its core mission:

"This DOJ will return to prosecuting dangerous criminals, not politically motivated witch hunts."

However, critics, including Hochul, have labeled the DOJ’s intervention “unprecedented” and a direct attack on judicial independence.

With Adams fighting for reelection and the Justice Department facing accusations of politicization, the legal and political firestorm is far from over.

END/WD/RH/